Lansford borough has agreed to take money from its general fund to secure the last piece of funding to take down the old Elks Club.

The abandoned structure at 6 W. Ridge St. has been slated for demolition for more than a year.In early January, it appeared that the demolition was set to go ahead, but asbestos and other environmental concerns were discovered, requiring an additional $18,000 to complete the project.On Wednesday, borough council voted 4-0 to chip in that funding themselves.Carbon County has already committed more than $100,000 in community development block grant money to the project.Councilwoman Rose Mary Cannon pledged that the extra $18,000 would be paid back to the town's general fund through a grant later this year."The money will be reimbursed to the borough in the fall. The money we were going to get for our handicap doors, which we will not get now, will go toward the demolition," she said.The asbestos was discovered in January during a visit from TCI Environmental Service.Prior to Wednesday's vote, a representative from a business located adjacent to the Elks expressed his frustration with the delays in the process.B.J. Berk of Emil's Barber Shop said he wanted to know why the asbestos wasn't discovered earlier. The borough ordered an environmental study on the property in October."Who is paying for it, and why wasn't it covered in the beginning, since we hired an engineer to go through it?" Berk said.Contacted on Friday, Emil's owner Mary Demyanovich said that she has been unable to live in her apartment over the business for two years, due to fear over the Elks building collapsing on her."It's been a nightmare," she said. "Everything I have is in there."Cannon told Berk that there were several issues that prevented the contractors from getting inside the building prior to January, when the asbestos was discovered."They could not get into the building to ascertain just how much was in there. It wasn't safe, and we did not own it in the beginning. We couldn't let them go in," she said.